Secretary General Kyrle demands the highest degree of safety for Austrian UN troops

Vienna, 29 November 2012 - In an urgency meeting with the Syrian Ambassador at the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs, Secretary General Kyrle demanded the utmost safety for Austrian UN troops. “The Austrian troops are deployed in the larger Damascus area; their safety needs to be guaranteed. This is the duty of the Syrian government.” He also demanded that swift and comprehensive medical care be ensured and that the Syrian government “take all measures to make it possible for the Austrian UN troops to fulfill their mandate under the UNDOF mission (supervision of the ceasefire on the Golan Heights) also in future.”

The Syrian Ambassador expressed his deep regret and said that he would pass on the Austrian demands to the government in Damascus without delay. This was the first incident of this kind (shots fired at UN troops) in Syria he said.